The inaugural Super8 event was marred by a sponsorship row last night
following the withdrawal of Kelly Sotherton, Hannah England and Greg
Rutherford.

The trio are sponsored by Nike, who wanted their athletes to wear branded kit in Cardiff, but the Super8 vests have no sponsorship, carrying just the event logo and team name.

Olympic bronze medallist Sotherton had been due to captain the Birmingham team in the innovative, two-hour, inter-city contest, which aims to emulate the success of Twenty20 cricket and boost falling attendances.

Sources close to UK Athletics officials labelled the decision of Nike “small-minded” and “appalling”, although an official statement was more diplomatic.

“There are more than 140 athletes competing tonight in the inaugural Super8. Personal sponsorship obligations have led to three athletes having to withdraw from the competition,” the statement read.

“However, we believe we can find a workable solution with all interested parties for the future of Super8.”

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On a more positive note, one of the few remaining big names, Olympic medallist Tasha Danvers, could not have spoken more highly about the concept – although her evening was to end on a sour note when she pulled up with a hamstring injury in the relay.

“It’s a brilliant idea, a lot of people have been really begging for something to happen in the UK as far as athletics is concerned, and here it is,” Danvers said.

A crowd of around 2,500 would seem to agree, and with the forecast rain staying away, they got to see winning performances from the likes of Chris Tomlinson in the long jump and Craig Pickering in the 100 metres.

A close contest was won by London South with 117 points, just one ahead of Birmingham who took second place, with London North also on 116 points but in third place.

The organisers had initially announced London North as winners, however it emerged that athletes running for London North and London South were misidentified during the men’s medley relay.